At this point, it’s clear that the Barbie movie is something that nearly everybody loves. The movie has not only made $1 billion at the global box office, making Greta Gerwig a record breaker. But it’s done so incredibly quickly, showing how wide the audience is for the movie that is so much more than a story of a doll. Even animal rights groups are on board with Barbie because Ken doesn’t wear real fur.
Even if you haven’t seen Barbie in its entirety, if you’ve seen any of the trailers for Barbie, then you’ve likely seen Ryan Gosling as Ken in an absolutely epic fur coat. He wears it through a significant part of the movie as part of the transformation of Barbieland that he has instigated after being exposed to the real world. Normally an animal rights group like PETA would take a very public issue with something like that, PETA is not shy about speaking out against even the appearance of animal cruelty in films, but TMZ reports they are supportive because the fur is fake mink.
Not only is Ken wearing fake fur, which would likely be the case even if the fur was presented in the film as real, but it’s also actually specified in the movie that Ken doesn’t wear real fur. The coat is given the official name, Fauxjo Mojo Mink, making it clear to the audience that no animals were harmed in the making of this coat. Ken is apparently also wearing vegan leather boots in the movie, so while Ken may be celebrating patriarchy, cruelty to animals is just a non-starter.
I mean, it makes a certain amount of sense. The idea behind Barbie is that the characters actually wear all the outfits that have been sold for decades to kids to go with the dolls. While it’s never explained where exactly the outfits come from, the doll version would obviously be fake fur, unless Mattel was looking to sell a collector's item that was not only in bad taste but also probably really expensive. And so the version the “real” Ken is wearing should be fake as well.
Considering that the Ken faux fur coat was given an official name, it would not be shocking to learn that it was actually going to be sold in stores, and so, of course, that’s exactly what’s happening. Mattel is releasing a full line of Barbie products specifically inspired by the movie, and the faux fur coat is just one of the numerous products based on the movie that will be available soon. There will even be a “Weird Barbie” doll for sale, inspired by Kate McKinnon’s character in the movie. No word yet on the Mojo Dojo CasaHouse playset, but it's only a matter of time, right?
